Saturday, June 29, 2013

German Celebration Cake

How fun is this! And, a colossal pain in the rear to bake. No word of a lie, this beauty is labor intensive. I don't make a Neapolitan Cake for just any reason because it's that outrageous.

That being said... I really wanted to make this for a special BBQ our family was attending. Our church congregation/parish/ward was reorganized and The Sugary Shrink is now attending a Germany speaking service. Nope, I don't speak German. Yeah, I sorta can follow along - sorta. Maybe. Better with an interpreter.

The BBQ was a way to everyone to get together and talk, eat, play games, relax, etc. It was a wonderful event. I thought baking a cake that says "Germany" would demonstrate our gratitude for the warm welcome.

I think it was well received - there were several smiles and associated head nodding up and down with accompanying "hmmm mmm" and one fine lady declared it, "Bombastic." (I took that as a good thing).

This cake requires the work of baking three different cakes (and it's no use making half batches of each of these flavors - I'm already mixing it, so I bake one 8" round and use the remainder of the batter for cupcakes). Three cakes!! And, on top of that, I was baking a special-order carrot cake - which, turned out so cute. I just hope it was as yummy as it was pretty.
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All that being said, I was really happy with the results of this German Celebration Cake.

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Lemon Cake is the bottom layer and Red Velvet is the middle layer. The Vanilla Buttercream frosting has been tinted to match the layers, but I chose the flavor to be blendable with all the layers. The cupcakes, however, were filled and frosted with complimentary icing.

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Talk about a headache in 'detail oriented.' But, it looks awesome.

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Really?! Why didn't someone stop me?! I crumb-coated each layer in the tint-appropriate buttercream...just in case this base layer of frosting peeked through the roses. Note to self, "you don't have to follow every idea."

Buttercream Roses in progress. I like the way things were looking.

Finished cake with a sample of the cupcakes The Chocolate Cupcake is filled with a lucious peanut butter cream filling, frosted with a small ring of chocolate icing (chocolate buttercream whipped together with chocolate ganache!) and a small swirl of peanut butter on top.

The Red Velvet Cupcake is stuffed with a traditional cream cheese filling and frosted with the remaining red-tinted vanilla buttercream icing.

The Lemon Cupcake is beyond yummy! It is filled with an amazing homemade fresh raspberry curd (oh so smooth and delicious) and frosted with a lemony-lemon icing.

﻿I feel lucky that I could put this cake together and I'm pooped out ... and my feet hurt. And the cake was yummy so that was worth it? It is to me during this season of my life. Since I can't work in rehab because we live in Europe, I will gladly enjoy the amazing travel opportunities. I get to bake cakes and cupcakes and see the world. The next season of my life I hope to land in rehab. Doesn't that sound like fun!?